Effect of risky alcohol use on performance and brain activity in a flanker go/no-go task

Alcohol is a commonly used substance, which when used to risky levels, can have adverse effects on brain functioning. Specifically, disordered use is understood to affect executive functions, such as inhibitory control. Deficits in inhibitory control may impact ability to control impulses and therefore may have a maintaining effect on alcohol and other substance use disorders. The present study examined the relationship between risky alcohol use and inhibitory control by observing event related potentials (ERPs) during a combined flanker go/no-go task. High and low risk alcohol use groups were formed using total score on the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) and then compared on the behavioural measures of accuracy and response time. Amplitude of the frontal N2 component of the ERP waveform was also used as a psychophysiological measure of inhibitory control. There were no statistically significant differences in N2 amplitude, nor any differences between groups on response time or accuracy. This may have been due to limitations of the study, resulting in a low number of participants that reported high levels of alcohol use. Future research should continue to clarify this relationship to determine at what level alcohol use begins to effect executive functions.